TWO items that emerged from the recent EPA oral
hearings into incinerator proposals for counties Meath and Cork bring
the contrast between zero waste sustainability and the quick-fix solution
into sharp focus.

1. Items listed for burning by the applicant
includes old tyres. These are now in short supply to make recycled
rubber crumb used in running tracks, playgrounds, etc. This is creating
jobs at two companies in counties Kildare and Louth. These jobs would
be at risk if the tyres were burned and the ash would have to go to
landfill.

2. As long as we use PVC products that eventually
end up in an incinerator there will be deadly dioxin emissions. Vinyl
is the second most used plastic toys, imitation leather bags, cables,
raincoats, shoe soles, floor tiles, etc. When burned its chlorine
content converts to dioxins. More importantly, it creates the same
amount of waste per kg in incineration ash that it does per kg of
product going into the incinerator.

So it all gets landfilled in the end, except
this time it's even more concentrated in dioxins and heavy metals.
We gain no advantage by burning it we just poison ourselves. The solution
is to avoid PVC where possible in the product design stage so that
we have no disposal problem. This is the essence of zero waste philosophy
avoid creating problems later in the product lifecycle.